


let me hold your hand again

by whiitewalker



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, TW Small Injuries and Blood, Taking care of your S/O, bantai, mentions of fighting, nothing major
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:54:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26524072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whiitewalker/pseuds/whiitewalker
Summary: He left soft touches with the cotton on his bruises, slightly dying the zone yellow. After working on it for a few seconds, he put a bandaid on it.“How should I know? It’s not like I had the time to ask”“Oh… true. Still, I’m glad”“Hm?”“I’m glad I was the one that found you, Ban-chan! I’ll prove to you that I’m the best caregiver here!”
Relationships: Nanao Taichi/Settsu Banri
Kudos: 41





	let me hold your hand again

**Author's Note:**

> friendly reminder that english ain't my mother language, but i hope you enjoy!! :)
> 
> This was done as an exchange with @PurisuRisu !! Go check her Ko-Fi Comms here: https://twitter.com/PurisuRisu/status/1306697653485477889

Banri had lost track of time and enough blood to be dizzy and just returning to earth. He had passed out at some point, now trying to get up but barely managing to sit up against the wall of the alley, checked the dripping blood with the back of his hand, managing to clean some of it with his shirt. He could get up and walk back to the dorm, but the world seemed to turn upside down everytime he even thought about it.

“I really have softened, huh…”

He softly laid his head against the wall, now both arms crossed on his lap, just watching the sky darken as he fought to get his shit together. A couple of minutes passed, which actually felt like hours, and he turned his gaze to the entrance of the back alley, just to find him, the one who looked up to Banri the most. Taichi was holding a bag full of groceries, or so he could make out of the mixture of shadow and light before him. Next thing he knew, the boy was kneeling before him, arms stretched out without a damn clue of what to do. Banri smiled, because the situation couldn’t get more surreal than this, and hung his arm behind his neck, clearly using him to get back up and walking again. He was just being lazy, or that's what he preferred to think. 

Two steps ahead, the world seemed to spin again, and that actually surprised him. He held onto Taichi without thinking too much about it, and this time his eyes focused on his face, being him taller than the boy. He really thought he hadn’t seen the boy as worried as now.

“Ban-chan! What happened?! Are you okay?!”

It took him a few seconds to focus, still. A laugh bubbled up from his throat, as unexpected as the whole situation, and this time he grabbed his shoulder, pulling himself together. He made him walk a few steps, just to check if this was doable, and once he saw that he could physically rely on him, he turned his face to him, just to find a helping hand cleaning some blood from below his eyebrow. He closed his eye following this, and so he was forced to look directly at Taichi’s eyes. Something about this made him feel at ease about what had happened, but he couldn’t pinpoint what.

Before he fully acknowledged what was going down, they were already on his way to the dorm, since it seemed like Taichi had caught up on what Banri had meant by walking, still hanging off of him. 

He didn’t pride himself on being strong, Banri knew he was working hard by trying to be as Juza or him were, but he still carried him all the way to the front door. 

Once they were inside, it seemed like no one was there. They knew some of them were rehearsing, and others just had work or stuff to do, so they were really by themselves for now. Banri was already better, had been for the last few minutes, but wasn’t until now that he decided to let go of his companion and reach for the sofa. He let himself fall onto it, legs over one of the sides and arm covering his face. He knew he still had blood over him, mostly from the bruised nose and the broken brow, but he needed to go through the events of the day before knowing what how he was supposed to feel.

He was simply coming back from university. Class had been interesting so far, so he had decided to attend (and he didn’t want to hear any words coming from Sakyo, so that was a plus). He did have his guard down, but he did because he didn’t think there would be someone so disgraceful to attack him when he wasn’t related to that side of town anymore. It’s not like he expected it, anyway. So when the kick came for his back, he barely managed to dodge, not expecting the bat hitting his stomach and pushing him to the ground into the alley without an exit that didn’t mean having to actually fight the four or five men that were closing his way out. He recovered, straightening up, his will to win and to be perfect at everything rising him up. He thanked himself for leaving his backpack at home, went into a stance and waited for the punch.

He actually won. Of course he did. It was him, after all. But once the still conscious gang members had taken their members with them and run away, he was left alone with a bloody nose, a bloody brow and a bloody lip. He was so focused on dodgin the bat that he had taken a few punches. Nothing bad, but they were effective enough. Once all the adrenaline wore off he was left to himself and how tired he actually was. 

Now he sighed, signaling for Taichi that he hadn’t passed out, and he was still conscious enough. But it was like falling into a dream, reliving the evening. He was about to get up and start to patch himself up when he realized Taichi was sitting by his side, close enough to his head but still waiting, a face full of worry and fondness. It was strange, both feelings seemed so clear, so obvious. Always had been, he knew, but now they felt more real than anything. He probably felt like those feelings came from the drowsiness and the bleeding (it wasn’t that much, but he had to tell himself something, he would be sincere later), so he let them grow and stay on his chest. For just a while, he told himself. For this moment alone.

Taichi had brought the medical kit while Banri had traveled to dreamland. He used some wet tissue to clean the dry blood under the nose and the eye, letting Banri now see perfectly through it. He hadn’t realized how much it hurted until then, but he managed. Now he was taking out some cotton disks with betadine on it, putting it on the wounds of the eyebrow and the nose, and he flinched at first contact, sitting up and looking at him directly.

“Hey, that hurts! Be more gentle!”

“I’m sorry! Didn’t mean to!! But, really, what happened?”

Banri simply moved over a bit, enough for him to lay down again and rest his head on Taichi’s lap the smoothest way possible. It was so casual it looked like it was something he did everyday, which wasn’t true. But he found it was quite soft and, at the same time, they were firm. He could sleep here, if it wasn’t because he could feel Taichi’s nerves from down there. He was, literally, vibrating, blushed from the tip of his ears to part of his cheeks.  
“Some gang members attacked me. It’s been a while, tho, but I kicked them into oblivion. You should have seen the other guy”

“But-”

Banri opened a single eye, slightly mad but still playful of how he was planning the situation to unfold. But that wasn’t visible, because he had become a better actor than he was months ago.

“Are you gonna keep going or what?”

“Yes, yes! But… Why? After all this time?”

He left soft touches with the cotton on his bruises, slightly dying the zone yellow. After working on it for a few seconds, he put a bandaid on it.

“How should I know? It’s not like I had the time to ask”

“Oh… true. Still, I’m glad”

“Hm?”

“I’m glad I was the one that found you, Ban-chan! I’ll prove to you that I’m the best caregiver here!”

And with the blush still lingering and a cheerful expression, he kept working on his face, and Banri couldn’t stop looking at how focused he was on not hurting him. He still did, though, but he decided to omit that. It was far more interesting to watch Taichi this close. How could anyone pass over him? He had such a bright and uplifting spirit, it seemed impossible to miss it. Without even being completely conscious of it, he lifted his hand to grab his, setting it aside, just letting the closeness get to him as it was getting to Banri. He went from playfully serious to just plain serious, thinking over and over if he should let his feelings take the better of him for just one second. But he also thought that they were the only ones there, so he could always dismiss it if he told anyone, even annoy him with it. 

There would come a time when Banri would be sincere, but it wasn’t today, not when he had just been punched into a timelapse. Taichi was about to talk, and Banri saw his opportunity. His hand went from his hand to grab the collar of his shirt, pulling him down and closing the gap himself. His lips over his, he wasn’t bleeding from it anymore, but still tasted a bit like iron. Not like they noticed, lost in the moment. Taichi didn’t know what to do, where to put his hands. He just panicked and kissed him back, sloppily. Wasn’t until a minute later that he managed to compose himself and place the other hand over his cheek, and Banri took his chance to intensify it. Just a bit, but enough for Taichi to let out a sound that immediately made him smile. He broke the kiss, immediately pulling himself up and out of the sofa. The boy was still shocked, and this time, the blush covered his entire face. He shyly looked up, finding a witty smile across his face.

“Thanks for taking care of me, but I think I’m much better now”

Banri broke eye contact, letting his cheerfulness slip into his voice.

“Turns out, you really are a good carer, Taichi! But let’s keep this treatment between us, would ya?”

If he had ever seen a shooting star, it wouldn’t compare to the beautiful smile that now was drawn on Taichi’s face. Banri left immediately, not letting his own heart take the better of him. He really hadn’t realized how much he wanted to smooch his face until that moment, but he had let himself experience and know and feel a lot of things since he joined the company, so this didn’t come as a surprise entirely. He went back to his room, finding Juza in it just reading some magazine about fresh candy stores in the area. When he looked up and saw such a happy face in Banri he did get worried. But only later he saw the bandaids and the wound on his lip, dyed a deep yellow, and immediately got to his feet. 

“What-”

“It’s nothing to worry about. Besides, I won, of course. And make that a double win”


End file.
